As AI races ahead, can the law keep up?

How can existing and emerging legal frameworks govern artificial intelligence without stifling innovation?

This question will be top of mind at a conference on AI regulation, governance, and public procurement at the University of Auckland this April.

The inaugural Law, Technology and Government Conference will see international legal scholars, judges, and practitioners descend on the Business School to dissect where we’re at when it comes to the governance and regulation of artificial intelligence.

Hosted by the Centre for Advancing Law and Technology Responsibly (ALTeR), the event comes at a time when governments around the world are moving quickly to adopt AI, while the legal and governance frameworks needed to guide its use lag.

Conference organisers Professor Alexandra Andhov and Associate Professor Marta Andhov, directors of ALTeR, say the legal profession can’t afford to treat AI governance as someone else’s problem.

“Governments are purchasing AI systems faster than they are building the frameworks to govern them,” says Alexandra Andhov. “This conference exists to close that distance, bringing together the legal, policy, and technical expertise needed to turn principles into practice.

“The frameworks we build, or fail to build, in the next few years will determine whether AI becomes a tool for justice or a gap in it.”

As part of the conference, Alexandra Andhov will give her inaugural lecture, examining the growing power of major technology companies and the challenges they pose for regulators.

“I’m interested in what happens when ‘too big to fail’ meets ‘too powerful to regulate’?” she says.

The conference is hosting legal tech providers who will demonstrate their latest AI-enhanced tools and take part in a discussion about issues they rarely touch on, including security vulnerabilities, reliability concerns, and privacy implications.

Scholars from across the Asia-Pacific region will examine whether established legal principles, from equity and tort to internet law, can effectively govern emerging technologies, or whether new regulatory approaches are needed.

Ken Singer, director of the UC Berkeley Centre for Entrepreneurship, will share insights from Silicon Valley before joining Aotearoa’s innovation and legal leaders in a session on how the law can support innovation.

Alongside local entrepreneurs and investors, Singer will also examine how legal infrastructure can be a competitive advantage rather than a barrier, and how New Zealand can create frameworks that enable rather than hinder technological advancement.

There will be a keynote on law, technology and government by Professor Chris Marsden (Monash), who has been supporting drafting regulations and policies in the UK, EU and Australia.

A fireside conversation between Chief Human Rights Commissioner, Dr Stephen Rainbow and entrepreneur Bowen Pan, who led the team that built Facebook Marketplace, will examine the tension between government caution and the pace of technological change.

Meanwhile, a panel co-organised with Netsafe will explore Aotearoa’s recent developments in online safety policy and practice, with a particular focus on protecting everyone, especially the most vulnerable, in an AI-amplified digital environment.

Another panel discussion will showcase AI-enhanced art while confronting its impact on artists, artistic expression, and the question of how we preserve humanity in increasingly AI-driven creative futures.

“Governments are racing to purchase AI systems, often without the frameworks to buy them responsibly or properly regulate them,” says Marta Andhov.

“This conference brings together the legal, policy, and technical expertise needed to turn principles into practice.”